New Allies: Part Two: Ice
by Fritters-4-Psi
Summary: One their way to Omashu, the gang come across a ruined village and it's one inhabitant. The Ice Phantom, who they believe tried to kill Aang.
1. Danger

Story Arc: New Allies 

Part: Two- Ice

Chapter: One- Danger

Author: Fritters-4-Psi

Disclaimer: I do not own the show Avatar: The Last Air Bender or the related characters. Nor do I profit from this fanfiction. The only things of my creation in this fanfiction are coming in later chapters.

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The sky was dark and not only from the oncoming night. A storm was approaching. It seemed like the rain would hold off until it was completely dark. Three people ran, hoping to reach some cover before the rain. They were closely followed by two animals. A small winged lemur, which took to the air. And a giant flying bison, which lumbered behind.

The five, the three human and the two animals, had been traveling together for quite some time. From the South Pole, they trekked to the North Pole. Encountering many difficult tasks along the way. The reason for their journey to the North Pole was to find a Water Bending Master to teach two of the companions Water Bending. From the North Pole, the decided to head to Omashu, where one of the two that had learned Water Bending, could learn Earth Bending from King Bumi.

How could one Bender learn two elements? He was the Avatar. It was his duty to learn all four and restore peace to a world being controlled by hate and war. His name was Aang. He was the last Air Bender. With two of the four elements already mastered, the trio headed for Omashu, where King Bumi, an old friend of Aang's could teach him Earth Bending.

The other of the companions to learn Water Bending, was Katara. She was a member of the dwindling South Pole Water Tribe. Under the vigilant eye of Master Pakku, she mastered Water Bending and taught Aang after they had left the North Pole. The third member of the party was a warrior from the Southern Water Tribe. Katara's brother, Sokka.

The two Water Tribe members hoped that they soon could return home. They had promised Aang that they would help him, though. The siblings would remain true to their word. Even if it meant tramping through miles of terrain for days without a decent place to rest.

A few weeks ago, Sokka had come across a girl while trying to find some food. She lived in the forest they had been in at the time. The trio had befriended her. They had stayed for only one night, when Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation had caught up with them. Fortunately, the girl, Risha, was Prince Zuko's cousin. She prevented her cousin from attacking her new friends. There was also something special about Risha. She was what, a long time ago, was known as a Lutdeo. She was a Fauna Bender. She was able to control and bend animals to her will. When the three left, Risha said that she would aide Aang when it was time for him to overthrow Fire Lord Ozai.

That was two and a half weeks ago. They hadn't eaten or slept decently since then. Unfortunately, it was about to rain. Thankfully, though, a village wasn't far off. Following a river bank, Aang, Katara, and Sokka ran. The village they were hoping to reach before it rained, was on the other side. They would have to cross a bridge to get there, but there wasn't a bridge in sight. So they ran further still. The river took a sharp bend and around the corner was a bridge.

At first, the bridge seemed to be made of pure white, almost transparent, stone. As they neared it, they realized it wasn't made of pure white stone. It was transparent, though. It was made of ice. "How could a bridge made of ice survive in the heat of the Earth Kingdom?" Sokka inquired, "It's just not possible."

Aang was silent. Sokka had a point. An ice bridge would have melted in the Earth Kingdom, unless . . . There was a sound of a few snapping twigs, deep in the forest. The Avatar peered through the dark branches of the trees. His eyes might have been playing tricks on him, but he was almost certain that he saw a cloaked figure dash even deeper into the woods. "Hey, guys. I think I saw something in the forest," Aang said.

"It was probably, just a hog-monkey," Sokka brushed it off, "This bridge still makes me wonder, though."

When Katara spoke up, Aang realized that she must have been thinking the same thing he had been. "Maybe there's a Water Bender around here," Katara suggested.

"Yeah, that's great, but we don't have time to stop and chat with them. It's about to rain. Besides, it's not like we have to find a Water Bender to teach you two Water Bending anymore," Sokka stated.

He stepped carefully, onto the ice bridge. It was slippery, but that didn't bother him. Sokka gingerly walked across the bridge. In a short matter of time, he was on the other side. Katara shrugged and walked across as well, with no trouble. The winged lemur, Momo, flew across the water, landing on Katara's head. Appa, the flying bison, trudged through the water, shaking off when he reached the other side. Aang was the last one to cross. He was in the middle of the bridge, when he felt wetness on his feet. He looked down. The bridge was melting. All at once, the ice turned to water. Aang disappeared beneath a sheet of ice that formed on the river's surface.

Katara ran forward to the river's bank. She concentrated on turning the ice into water once more. As hard as she tried, she sensed that someone was fighting her. Someone was trying to keep the water frozen. It seemed like hours that Katara fought the other presumed Water Bender, but it had really only been a few minutes. Finally, the ice broke and melted back into its liquid form.

Further down the river, Aang swam to the bank. Other than being wet, he was fine. He looked around to see if the Bender whom he had sensed fighting Katara was near. He saw no one, except his companions. "Are you okay, Aang?" Katara was worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little shaken. And, obviously, wet," Aang confirmed, "Did you happen to see who was trying to keep the ice frozen?"

"No, we didn't see anyone," Sokka shook his head, "Maybe it was a bounty hunter. There are wanted posters of you all around, Aang. The reward is really high, too."

"Let's just keep moving. We would be easy targets if we stay still," Aang suggested, "The village isn't far off now."

After Aang used Air Bending to dry himself, they continued on their way. Like Aang had said, the village they were hoping to reach wasn't far off. The sky darkened. They would have to travel quicker if they didn't want to get wet. Or in Aang's case, get wet again. Whoever it was that tried to drown him beneath the ice, if they were smart, would go to take shelter, too.

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Review please!


	2. Rumors

Story Arc: New Allies 

Part: Two- Ice

Chapter: Two- Rumors

Author: Fritters-4-Psi

Disclaimer: I do not own the show Avatar: The Last Air Bender or the related characters. Nor do I profit from this fanfiction. The only things of my creation in this fanfiction are the other merchant, and the Ice Phantom.

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Half an hour later, the trio arrived at the village. At the far end, there was an inn with a medium sized stable. Thankfully, two and a half weeks ago, when they had left the Fauna Bender's house, Risha had given them some money. With that money, they were able to pay for two rooms for themselves, and stabling for Appa. Aang and Sokka agreed to share a room and let Katara have her own, in order to let their money last a while longer.

As soon as they settled into the rooms, it began to rain. Laughing at the rain, all of them headed down into the common room together. "I'm so thankful for this rain," a merchant, possibly a cabbage merchant, said to another, "This short drought was horrible for my cabbage crop. Half of my fields have wilted."

The other merchant took a long drink from his mug. "I know what you mean," he replied, "This rain should help smolder the Fire Nation."

"Don't speak against the Fire Nation so loudly. How are we supposed to know if they have spies," the cabbage merchant whispered cautiously, "And after what they did to out sister village."

Aang couldn't help but over hear the conversation. They way the two merchants were talking, it made it seem like the Fire Nation had spent some time here. This couldn't be good. Slowly, the Avatar walked over to the merchants. "What did the Fire Nation do?" he asked.

"You don't know?" the other merchant was slight shocked.

After taking a sip from his mug, the cabbage merchant replied, "You must be a traveler. That's the only explanation for your not knowing. Our sister village was attacked by the Fire Nation. The village was suspected to be housing the Avatar. The people said that they weren't. The Fire Nation took it as lies. They killed everyone in the village. Actually, rumor has it that one survived the attack. There have been sightings of a girl at the ruins. They call her the Ice Phantom."

"Heh. That's the polite name for her. Most people call her the Ice Bi . . . " the other merchant joked.

The other merchant never finished that last word. He was cut off by Katara, "Why is she known as the Ice Phantom?"

"The phantom part comes from the fact that no one has ever gotten a good look at her. She always runs away before she can be fully seen. People have tried to catch her, but no one can," the cabbage merchant explained, "Some say she's a Water Bender. But she doesn't Bend water. Actually, in a sense, yes, she does. She only Bends water in its solid form; as ice."

"Well, thank you for your time," Sokka said, "But we have to go now."

The Water Tribe warrior pulled his friends from the two merchants. He looked around cautiously, before speaking. "It looks as if we have found out who tried to drown Aang."

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Wierd dream on the 13th. The Fire Nation came and attacked my town, which, some how, was near France. They catapulted giant, flaming pieces of Minas Tirith (for those who don't know, Minas Tirith is a massive stone fortification from the book The Lord of the Rings). Then somehow, I escaped to France by going across a river, even though France is an ocean away. Then I got a plan to intercept the Red Ribbon Hawk's messages so the Fire Nation would get all kinds of wierd orders.

I was planning on updating sooner, but I got caught up in anger and sadness. I'd go into detail, but I already explained it in the author's note on my other fanfic 'Sibling Rivalry'. I'm kinda lazy that way.

Reviews

1, Half-elf: Really? There's mystery? I hadn't been going for mystery, but that's cool anyway. Thanks.

1, SovereignxXxBrunette: You have to wait no longer! (for this chapter anyway...)


	3. Argument

Story Arc: New Allies 

Part: Two- Ice

Chapter: Three- Argument

Author: Fritters-4-Psi

Disclaimer: I do not own the show Avatar: The Last Air Bender or the related characters. Nor do I profit from this fanfiction. The only things of my creation in this fanfiction are the other merchant, and the Ice Phantom.

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The trio payed for a small dinner. It was, definitely, one of the better meals they had in a while. They avoided talking about what was on all their minds; who tried to kill Aang. It seemed like that girl, the Ice Phantom, was as good a person to talk to as any. Even if she wasn't the one who tried to kill Aang, she might know who did.

When they finished their meal, they all went to the room that Sokka and Aang were sharing. There, they could talk without worrying about others overhearing. Momo, who had stayed in the room, looked at them expectantly for some food. Aang pulled out a small loaf of bread for his pet. "Tomorrow we'll go and find that Ice Phantom," Sokka stated plainly.

"Sokka, that sounds like a good plan and all, but you saw what happened earlier," Katara interjected, "She could have caused Aang to drown. I don't think it's that great an idea to march into a place we don't know where we think there's danger. We should just go on our way."

A disgusted look crossed the warrior's face. He almost couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Yeah, we could leave. And do what?" he asked snidely, "Let whoever is trying to kill Aang follow us? We have a hard enough time trying to elude that hot head Prince without someone else following us."

In silence, the Avatar watched the two siblings argue. Both had good points. They were missing the big picture, though. The Ice Phantom, if she really was trying to kill him, why would she? She was a Water Bender. It didn't make any sense for a Water Bender to try and kill the Avatar. There was probably something seriously wrong. "We'll go see her," Aang decided their route, ending the argument, "Besides, we don't know if it was the Ice Phantom who was trying to ki . . . Trying to keep the water frozen."

Katara's face showed a look of worry. This was a bad idea and she knew it. From what the merchants had said, the Ice Phantom seemed like a bitter, slightly mental, but powerful Bender. She was clearly a master of Water Bending, like herself. Going to see the Ice Phantom could prove to be dangerous, possibly even deadly. Aang always tried to believe the best in people and that sometimes left him blinded to the truth. He might not realize what could happen if this girl had sided with the Fire Nation. It could get him onto very bad trouble. Katara would have liked to stay behind, but she knew that Aang and her brother might need her help. She rued the next day and just wanted to have this finished with. "We're going to see her tomorrow, right?" she asked, and received nods, "Seeing how you're both so anxious to go, why wait until then? Let's go now."

The other two looked at each other in surprise at Katara's change of heart. Sokka shrugged and was the first to speak, "Yeah, great idea, except two things. First, it's dark. Second, it's raining. If this girl is a Water Bender, and trying to kill Aang, then why allow her to be surrounded by her element on a night when the moon is out?"

Sokka showed a slight wince at his own mention of the moon. It was not that he had anything against the moon, that wasn't the case. While in the Northern Water Tribe, Sokka had fallen in love with a princess. Princess Yue had given her life to save the Moon Spirit. Whenever Sokka looked at the moon, his heart ached. It had been near two months since her death, and he still mourned for her. "I think it's best if we wait until morning," he added.

Aang, who had remained silent for almost this whole discussion, finally decided to speak up again. "You're forgetting, though, Sokka. Katara is a Water Bender and I'm the Avatar. So far I've mastered Air and Water. The moon would be helping us, too. That would be two Water Benders against one," Aang stated, "And then there's you, as well, even though you're not a Water Bender. That would be three against one. We would have an advantage."

Sokka murmured something inaudible, then agreed that they should go now. There was one problem, though. None of them knew where this village was. Together, they went down to the common room to see if anyone was down there. The cabbage merchant from earlier was down there having a drink of an unidentified liquid. The three walked up to him. "Earlier you were talking to someone else. We came in and interrupted your conversation," Aang explained, "During that time you mentioned someone called the Ice Phantom. We were wondering where to find the ruins of that village."

The cabbage merchant looked startled at the request. He couldn't imagine that anyone would want to go off looking for that girl. He told the trio that the village was on the other side of the river, roughly three miles northward. There was a path, but since the village burned down five months ago, no one they new of traveled it. There was a good chance that it could have become overgrown by brush. They thanked the merchant and left.

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Reviews

2, Half-elf: That's kinda funny that you looked into my own story than I did. I have to agree, though, it does turn out to be mysterious.

2, Gmasangel: Thank you! I'm so glad that I got another reviewer!


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